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DSi Browser

The DSi Games Console on the Web

The excitement around the Nintendo DSi games console is largely to do with the DSi browser, added to the DSi for downloading games and firmware updates. The DSi browser, which has been jointly developed by Nintendo and Opera, is available to download free from the DSi Shop and will be the first step for almost every DSi owner.

One point to clarify here is that although the DSi games console firmware will not be region-locked (that is, limited to use within your country or continent) the games available on SD card and the downloadable games from the DSi Shop will be. So regular DS games will be playable on any DS or DSi but the downloaded DSi games only on that region's console. Nintendo's reason for this is because the DSi runs on web-based firmware and they want to provide net services tailored specifically for each region. They also want to be able to include parental control options in the DSi with different age limits possible for different parts of the world.

DSi Browser Review

The DSi Browser has been developed jointly by Nintendo and Opera, and was the first free software download available for the DSi. The browser opens a web page in two different zoom settings - zoomed in on the bottom screen and zoomed out on the top, although you can switch this view with the 'Up-Down' icon. One thing you can't do is select a custom zoom setting, but at least there are two views to choose from, which should satisfy most people. Navigation is performed with a single touch of the stylus, and there are some well thought-out short cuts such as 'www.' and '.com' which can be entered with one tap. One very cool feature is the ability to drag the stylus across text to highlight it, then enter it into a search engine by clicking 'Search' after highlighting and choosing either Google or Yahoo - if this is the first version of the browser with features like this then there could be great things to come.

Of course the DSi Browser is not perfect, it can't play Flash files, or any audio files that are part of a web page, but it does have a RSS feed reader built in and it does support Javascript.

Download DSi Games

Much of the speculation now is around which games Nintendo will make available for online download via the DSi browser. A lot of people are hoping Nintendo will deliver their whole back catalogue, in much the same way as the Virtual Console service allows you to play vintage games from systems like the Mega Drive, Master System, Neo-Geo, C64 and N64 on current hardware. Imagine being able to play Super Mario World, Mega Man, Donkey Kong Country and Wonder Boy on your brand new DSi...

The DSi Shop works in a similar way to the Wii Shop. After the initial free download of the DSi browser there will be Moving Notepad, also free, which is like it sounds a notepad for keeping ideas but in a much more advanced way than your average jotter, using the image manipulation and sound capabilities of the DSi games console to create what Nintendo call 'talking cut-off animation' - here's a video from Japan demonstrating the 'moving memo'...

The free downloads are the first of the four categories of download from the DSi Shop, the other three being charged-for games and applications which you pay for using Nintendo Points (an update of Wii Points). Each DSi games console that accesses the store before March 2010 will receive 1000 Nintendo Points and more can be purchased - games on the DSi Shop cost 200 points (simple utilities and small games), 500 points (mid range puzzle games and the like) or 800 points (Premium software).

The enhanced web experience of the DSi games console is one of it's major selling points.